GONCHAR'S GOAL LIFTS PENGUINS PAST ISLANDERS, 4-3

Sergei Gonchar lasered a shot past Mike Dunham late in overtime Thursday night to give the Penguins a 4-3 win against the Islanders.

Penguins rookie Evgeni Malkin, who made his NHL debut Wednesday night and scored a goal, had another goal and an assist Thursday against the Islanders.

Michel Ouellet gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal 8:24 into the game. Sidney Crosby fired a shot from the near point that was stopped by Dunham. Malkin poked at the rebound and the puck slipped to Ouellet, who buried it into the goal.

Nils Ekman roofed a shot past Dunham 4:55 into the second for a 2-0 lead. He took a pass from Gonchar and skated to the top of the slot. He wristed the puck over Dunham’s shoulder for his first goal in a Penguins uniform. Crosby added an assist on the power-play goal.

However, the Islanders scored three goals in 2:49 late in the second period to grab a 3-2 advantage over the Penguins in the second period.

Alexei Yashin scored for the Islanders with 4:17 left. He one-timed Viktor Kozlov’s pass from the bottom of the far face-off circle past Fleury to trim the deficit to 2-1.

Mike Sillinger tied the contest with 2:37 remaining with a power-play goal. Fleury stopped his initial shot, but the puck popped up in the air, came back down and bounced off Fleury’s left shoulder and went into the net.

Jason Blake banged home a rebound for a power-play goal with 1:28 remaining to give the Islanders a 3-2 lead.

Malkin tied the game at 3-3 with 11:52 left in the contest. Behind the net, Crosby was checked into the end boards. However, he managed to kick the puck toward the goal. Malkin broke to the near post and snapped the puck past a surprised Dunham. Ryan Whitney had the other assist.

Gonchar won the game for the Penguins when he rifled in a slap-shot with 1:27 left. Ekman’s shot was blocked and bounced to Whitney, who flipped the puck to Gonchar at the left point. He fired a laser past Dunham for the game-winner.